I question things which people take for granted. I would have been that kid who said the emperor was naked. In real life that kid would probably have been lynched, but I'll take my chances...
I believe truth inherently valuable, no matter how well intentioned the ideology it dispels may be.
I also write about random interesting things from my personal life.

05 December 2007

They are a little wierd, but maybe they have a good idea or two

The Amish, especially those of the Old Order, are
probably best known for their avoidance of certain modern technologies. The
avoidance of items such as automobiles and electricity is largely
misunderstood. The Amish do not view technology
as evil. Individuals may petition for acceptance of a particular technology in
the local community. In some communities, the church leaders meet annually to
review such proposals. In others, it is done whenever necessary. Because the
Amish, like some Mennonite groups, and unlike the Catholic
or Anglican Churches, do not have a hierarchical
governing structure, differing communities often have different ideas as to
which technological items are acceptable.

Electricity, for instance, is viewed as a
connection to, and reliance on, "the World", the "English",
or "Yankees" (the outside world), which is against their doctrine of
separation. The use of electricity also could lead to the use of worldly
household appliances such as televisions, which would complicate the Amish
tradition of a simple life, and introduce individualist competition for worldly
goods that would be destructive of community. In certain Amish groups, however,
electricity can be used in very specific situations: for example, if
electricity can be produced without access to outside power lines. Twelve-volt
batteries, with their limited applications, are acceptable to these groups.
Electric generators can be used for welding, recharging batteries, and powering
milk stirrers. In certain situations, outdoor electrical appliances may be
used: lawn mowers (riding and hand-pushed) and string trimmers, for example.
Some Amish families have non-electric versions of vital appliances, such as
kerosene-powered refrigerators.

Amish communities often adopt compromise solutions
involving technology which may seem strange to outsiders. For example, many
communities will allow gas-powered farm equipment such as tillers or mowers,
but only if they are pushed by a human or pulled by a horse. The reasoning is
that Amish farmers will not be tempted to purchase more land in order to
outcompete other farmers in their community if they still have to move the
equipment manually. Many Amish communities also accept the use of chemical
pesticides and GM
crops, forgoing more common Amish organic farming techniques.

The Ordnung is the guide to community standards, rather than
doctrine that defines sin. For example, the four Old Order Amish communities of
Allen County, Indiana, are more conservative
than most; they use open buggies, even during the winter, and they wear black
leather shoes even in the hot summer. The restrictions are not meant to impose
suffering. In the 1970s, for example, a farmer near Milan
Center, Indiana, was ordered by
his bishop to buy a conventional tractor. He had severe progressive arthritis
and, with no sons to harness the horses for him, the tractor was seen as a
need, rather than a vanity. The rest of the community continued farming with
horses.

The Amish will hire drivers and vans, for example,
for visiting family, monthly grocery shopping, or commuting to the workplace
off the farm — though this too is subject to local regulation and variation.
The practice increases the geographic reach of the Amish, and decreases
isolation: a horse can travel only about 25 miles and then must rest for a
considerable period, restricting the Amish to a radius of 12.5 miles from home.
Moreover, a horse and buggy can only sustain 10 MPH
over an extended distance and so is impractical for emergencies.[8] Regular
bus service between Amish communities has been established in some areas.
Hiring a taxi is forbidden on Sundays (as is any transfer of money).

The telephone is another technology whose avoidance
is often misunderstood. The Amish dislike the telephone because it interferes
with their separation from the world; it brings the outside world into the
home; it is an intrusion into the privacy and sanctity of the family and
interferes with social community by eliminating face-to-face communication.
However, some Amish, such as many of those in Lancaster
County, use the telephone primarily
for out-going calls, but with the added restriction that the telephone not be
inside the home, but rather in a phone "booth" or shanty (actually
just a small out-building) placed far enough from the house as to make its use
inconvenient. Commonly these private phone shanties are shared by more than one
family, fostering a sense of community. This allows the Amish to control their
communication and not have telephone calls invade their homes, but also conduct
business as needed. In the past, the use of public pay phones in town for such
calls was more common; today with dwindling availability of pay phones because
of increased cellphone use by the non-Amish population, Amish communities are
seeing an increase in the private phone shanties.[9] Many
Amish, particularly those who run businesses, use voice mail service.[10] The
Amish will also use trusted "English" neighbors as contact points for
passing on family emergency messages. Some New Order Amish will use cellphones
and pagers, but most Old Order Amish will not.[11]

Dress code for some groups includes prohibitions against
buttons, allowing only hooks and eyes to keep clothing closed; others may allow
small undecorated buttons in a dark color. In some groups, certain articles can
have buttons and others cannot. The restriction on buttons is attributed in
part to their association with military uniforms, and also to their potential
for serving as opportunities for vain display. Straight-pins are often used to
hold articles of clothing together. In all things, the aesthetic value is
"plainness": clothing should not call attention to the wearer by cut,
color or any other feature. Prints such as florals, stripes, polka-dots, etc.
are not allowed in Amish dress, although these styles have been adopted by
fellow Mennonites.

Women wear calf-length plain-cut dresses in a solid
color such as blue. Aprons are often worn, usually in white or black, at home
and always worn when attending church. A cape, which consists of a triangular
shape of cloth, is usually worn beginning around the teenage years and pinned
into the apron. In the colder months, a long woollen cloak is sported. Heavy
bonnets are worn over the prayer coverings when Amish women are out and about
in cold weather, with the exception of the Nebraska Amish, who do not wear
bonnets. When a girl becomes available to be courted, she wears a black bonnet[citation needed]. These
unmarried women also wear a white cape.[citation needed]

Men typically wear dark-colored trousers and a dark
vest or coat, suspenders (Brit. braces), broad-rimmed straw hats
in the warmer months and black felt hats in the colder months. Single Amish men
are clean-shaven; if they are available to court women, they will put a dent in
their hat. Married men grow a beard. In some more traditional communities a man will grow a
beard after he is baptized. Moustaches are not allowed, because they are associated
with the military and because they give opportunity for vanity. The avoidance
of military styles has origins in the religious and political persecution in
16th and 17th century Europe. Men of the nobility and upper classes, who often
served as military officers, wore moustaches but not beards, and the pacifist
Amish avoid moustaches because of this association. The wearing of beards,
however, is largely based on the same beliefs against shaving that lead Hasidic
Jews and conservative Muslims not to shave their beards. (Amish men who wear beards
do not abhor shaving: some men grow a fringe of beard around the edge of the
face while shaving the hair off the front of the face, including the moustache.
These men refrain from shaving the throat)

During the summer months, the majority of Amish
children go barefoot, including to school. The prevalence of the practice is
attested in the Pennsylvania Deitsch saying, "Deel Leit laafe baarfiessich
rum un die annre hen ken Schuh." (Some people walk around barefooted, and
the rest have no shoes.) The amount of time spent barefoot varies, but most
children and adults go barefoot whenever possible.